Woman fed up with cousin's untrained "emotional support dog" destroying her home, he chooses to leave instead of parting with his "fur baby," but family stands by him

Author image for Ely Bulnes
Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Feb 3, 2025 5:00 PM EST

Depending on where you live, it can be quite difficult to find a pet-friendly apartment. If you do manage to score one, you may find yourself having to pay a pretty fat deposit before you can move in with your fur baby. It can seem unfair at first, especially if you are a responsible pet owner that mingles with other responsible pet owners. The truth is, though, plenty of people are not. They let their dogs howl and bark at all hours of the day and night, don't stop their cats from destroying property, and end up being way more of a hassle for landlords than they are worth.

In our story today, a couple refuses to take responsibility for their fur baby, letting it relieve itself inside of the home and tear up furniture. The worst part is that it's not even their home; they are guests in their cousin's apartment while they look for employment. To find out how this story ends, scroll down below!

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  • 01

    AITA telling my cousin his emotional needs aren't my problem and get job?

    "I told them that the dog is not a baby and that they need to take responsibility for it."
    via Elles Rijsdijk

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    My (23M) cousin (30M) and his GF (32F) recently had to move out of their place after his girlfriend lost her job. My cousin has been unemployed for quite some time due to his mental health, which is a sore subject for him (this will be relevant later). His GF has been job searching, but it's a long process and they need somewhere to stay in the meantime, so they've been staying with me and my roommate (22M).
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 03
    I didn't love this arrangement in the first place since we have a two-bedroom apartment and I've needed to move into my roommate's room to make space, but it's family and my roommate says he doesn't mind having me in his room for now (plus my aunt is paying us) so whatever.
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 04
    The problem is that my cousin and his GF have insisted on bringing their emotional support dog with them (not a service dog). It's technically fine in terms of our lease and I don't mind dogs in general so at first I said OK, but this thing has been a nightmare. It's loud, pees on our floors, and it
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 05
    chewed up one of our couch pillows. My cousin and his GF think this behavior is hysterical and endearing, but every time my roommate and I tried to bring up that we'd rather they find somewhere else for their dog, they go on and on about how they can't possibly part with their "fur baby" and just will not hear it.
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 06
    This all kind of culminated last night because my roommate had an important presentation this morning so he tried to go to bed early last night, but the dog would not stop barking. My cousin and his GF were all like "awww she wants to play" but my roommate and I were pretty annoyed. I told my
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 07
    Cheezburger Image 10463044608
    via atwstudios

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 08
    cousin that this arrangement was not working and that he needed to find somewhere else to put the dog. He told me again that it's their "fur baby", and his GF started getting really upset and telling me we were making the dog feel unwelcome and it was like asking them to part with their child. I told them that the dog is not a baby and that they need to take responsibility for it or find somewhere else for the
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10463044096
    via SeventyFour

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 10
    three of them to stay. He reminded me that he needs the dog for emotional support and that his GF is trying to find a job and they have nowhere to go until then. Partially out of anger, I told him that his emotional support needs weren't my problem and that maybe he should try getting a job too. I know he's had a rough time with his mental health and
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 11
    how that impacts employment so I think those two statements put together cut a little deeper than I intended, and he hasn't been talking to me today and his girlfriend called me an ableist for what I said. My aunt texted me this morning that my cousin and his GF plan on moving out this weekend with
    via u/burner203209329302

  • This couple seems like they have been coddled (much like they are coddling their dog by refusing to train it) for much of their lives. They need a reality check ASAP.

  • 12
    their dog and that I was way too harsh with him. I do understand why the comment had that effect on them and I feel bad for that, but it finally got the dog out of our place after we've been trying the gentler approach so I don't really know what else I could've done. AITA?
    via u/burner203209329302
  • 13
    ΝΤΑ buttercupgrump "Isn't it so cute and funny how our untrained dog keeps destroying your home?"
    via u/buttercupgrump
  • 14
    No, it's not. They're setting that dog up for failure because they're too lazy to properly train it. I love dogs, but they would have been out in a week if it was my home. And no, you're not ableist for what you said. It sounds like your cousin uses his mental illness as a shield from responsibility.
    via u/buttercupgrump
  • 15
    ShadowofLupa212 I had a roommate with a dog like this, a very sweet and loving... husky/shepherd mix...that he used like a emotional support pillow and ignored 90% to go out partying while she stayed in our small cramped apartment ripping my things apart like presents from Christmas and graduation and tried to blame the cats
    via u/ShadowofLupa212
  • 16
    She cr pped and p. ed everywhere cause all of us worked crappy hours, i would be the one to take her out and get her food, it got to the point she was sleeping with me on the futon cause I was the only one to give her any attention or care, me the guy who lived in the small space next to the kitchen cause we only had 2 bedrooms
    via u/ShadowofLupa212
  • 17
    I know how OP feels and his cousin and girlfriend can kindly go eat moldly sausages
    via u/ShadowofLupa212
  • 18
    Altruistic_Isopod_11 Kick them out!!! He's 32 years sponging off family. He and his gf are not your responsibility and frankly your roommate is being far more generous than they deserve. Kick them out now.
    via u/Altruistic_Isopod_11

  • Ultimately, this is for the best. Who knows how long they would've stayed in the apartment otherwise.

  • 19
    Cheezburger Image 10463044352
    via TimeImage

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 20
    Toss MeThatCat Oh geez. These people are the reason most landlords won't accept dogs. The dog is peeing everywhere And chewing things up because they are not active good owners. It is not cute destroy things. They should not have an animal if they cannot give it active time and proper training. This is not an emotional support dog. This is just a dog they don't want to give up.
    via u/TossMeThatCat
  • 21
    SolmaRedditUserNow "fur baby" is all i needed to read. NTA
    via u/SolmaRedditUserNow
  • 22
    tinyahjumma Yeah, that phrase is one of my fur baby peeves.
    via u/tinyahjumma
  • 23
    hedwigflysagain NTA, the girlfriend needs to dump your cousin. His mental health might improve if he was forced to feed and house himself. As long as someone is caring him he will never get better. Let him be cold and hungry for a while. That might be the motivation he needs.
    via u/hedwigflysagain
  • 24
    Regular_Boot_3540 NTA. They were bad guests and were totally unrepentant. Whatever it takes to get them the h I out of your apartment. And it's true: his emotional support is not your problem.
    via u/Regular_Boot_3540
  • 25
    Fun-Yellow-6576 NTA. They are being r de! Just having a dog isn't going to solve whatever mental health issues he's having. Maybe his issue is he's lazy af and just claims to have mental health issues as an excuse to not work. Good riddance to them.
    via u/Fun-Yellow-6576
  • 26
    BangarangPita NTA. Those are the kind of people who keep everyone else from taking emotional support animals seriously. Every pet is an emotional support animal. That's why we have them. While service dogs must go through training to perform specific tasks, ESAs do not. However, every dog needs basic training, and especially ones that are meant to be ESAs. There is no excuse for them to not do that.
    via u/BangarangPita
  • 27
    NTA swillshop Everyone has a problem or two and needs a little help. That doesn't make it OK to CHOOSE to do absolutely nothing to address those problems or to expect someone else to provide an open-ended bail-out for every problem they won't address.
    via u/swillshop
  • 28
    Your cousin relies on his gf to support him. (And aunt to enable him, too) GF hit a bump in the road, and they asked you and roommate to help with a space to live. But they want their dog, they don't want to train the dog, they don't want to be expected to manage their dog, they don't want to expect cousin to make an effort to be more (of even one!) mentally/emotionally/financially self-sufficient, blah, blah, blah.
    via u/swillshop

Tags

family drama dogs toxic reddit story relationships service dogs fur baby couples mental health love entitled reddit thread Reddit roommates cousins entitled people
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